Living Well volunteers

Our Living Well service is designed to improve the wellbeing, physical, mental, and social health of our patients and families.

Our Living Well volunteers work alongside our clinicians to ensure that patients get the maximum benefit from their time with us. Without volunteers to help run these services, we would need to employ at least two Health Care Assistants, at an average cost of £16.50 an hour.

What will I be doing?

• being part of a team of volunteers that works flexibly to provide the range of services that we offer our patients. Each volunteer needs to be willing to engage in every activity, to lead or support other team members – there is no onus on leading a session, but a willingness to support and participate is essential. Activities could include art & crafts, spiritual/quiet time, gentle exercise, and other therapeutic sessions
• encouraging patients to participate in the activities on offer to the best of their abilities, responding to their individual needs
• providing a friendly and supportive atmosphere for patients
• sitting, listening, and engaging with patients, feeding back any relevant information or concerns to the nursing team
• signposting patients and people who visit Grove House to relevant information
• helping to serve tea, coffee and lunch and clearing and washing up afterwards
• helping with cleaning down surfaces between use, as directed by clinical staff
• attending morning and afternoon debriefing sessions and regular communication meetings

What are we looking for?

• someone with excellent listening and communication skills with a non-judgemental approach
• sensitivity to the needs of people facing serious illness
• someone who is very much a team player, willing to contribute to practical tasks and get involved in multiple activities
• reliability, flexibility, and adaptability
• as this is a physically active role where you will be on the move most of the time, there is an activity risk assessment in place which we will go through with you before you start volunteering to ensure that we have an understanding of any additional support needs you may have, and we can discuss any reasonable adjustments that can be made to ensure you are able to fulfil the role safely